hankyoreh

Korea's labor market is emerging as a hot-button issue in the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) preliminarily struck on April 2. If the U.S. Congress and other stakeholders continue to request to add or modify some labor provisions in the agreement, it could prompt South Korea to lose support for the deal at home because domestic business circles may oppose the request. Against a backdrop of the situation, South Korean government officials have been reiterating that there will be "no renegotiations."

However, the South Korean government has been aware of U.S. moves to present a new proposal on labor terms in the FTA since early March, when the eighth round of formal talks was held in Seoul. At that time, U.S. negotiators asked South Korea to suspend talks on the labor chapter, saying that they were waiting for a new mandate on labor terms from the Democrat-controlled Congress.

On March 23, 16 Democrats from the House of Representative sent a letter to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, saying that Since South Korea's accession into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 1996, labor rights in South Korea have deteriorated. The Democrats continued by asking South Korea to release arrested labor activists and comply with advisories by the International Labor Organization.

Woo Mun-suk, a spokesperson at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), said, "In principle, as the livelihood of U.S. workers has been damaged since the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. labor unions oppose free trade deals because they contain no explicit terms to protect labor rights. The U.S. Democratic Party seems to intend to add some provisions to the FTA to reflect the interests of labor groups, though the party doesn't oppose the FTA overall," Woo said.

Song Hong-seok, an official at the Ministry of Labor, said, "The U.S. Trade Representative seems to be in a difficult situation because it needs congressional approval to ratify free trade deals reached with South Korea, Peru, and Columbia, as well as to extend an expiration of the Trade Promotion Authority."

South Korean business circles balked at these U.S. Congressional moves. Lee Seung-cheol, executive vice president of the Federation of Korean Industries, said, "The U.S. Congress' requests, such as abolishing the practice of allowing only one labor union at a given company, and banning companies from paying their union officials, are in contrast with an agreement last year among labor groups, companies, and the government."

Lee continued, "We are now keeping a low profile because the U.S. didn't officially request renegotiations yet. However, if the request is made, we will speak against the renegotiations," Lee said.

In September last year, the government along with the Korea Employers Federation and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, one of two major national trade union umbrella groups, agreed to suspend until 2010 the

abolition of the one-union-per-company rule as well as the ban on companies' paying their union officials, a decision met with fierce protest from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the other major national trade union umbrella organization.

Officially, the South Korean government's stance is firm on not allowing the U.S. side to add or change provisions. After Wendy Cutler, the chief U.S. negotiator, hinted at the possibility of renegotiations, high-ranking government officials, including Finance Minister Kwon O-kyu, Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo, and Vice Finance Minister Kim Seok-dong, have all said, "There will be no renegotiations."

However, it is difficult to completely rule out the possibility of renegotiations. Song Gi-ho, a trade lawyer, said, "Besides labor, South Korea and the U.S. have a few unresolved issues, such as conditions for temporary trade safeguards and concession offers on agricultural goods from the U.S. side." Song said he expected South Korea to have to renegotiate if the U.S. officially asks to add terms on issues of labor and the environment. A day prior, Kim Jong-hoon, the chief South Korean negotiator, said, "Four areas, including agriculture, are not yet finished."

In addition, the U.S. has already renegotiated its trade deals with Peru and Columbia after the deals were struck, in order to modify labor and environmental terms, following a request by U.S. Congress.

If renegotiations do occur, the Korean government is expected to take extreme heat for not sticking to its word. Last year, the government postponed until 2010 the revision of the labor laws in question, despite opposition from the KCTU. If the government changes its position over the issues after renegotiations with the U.S., people will think the South Korean government easily yields under pressure from the U.S.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]